This week Benn read Holy Moly by Leah Hayes:
"Man...I wish I had kept all of my drawings I did in those old Composition notebooks in class instead of paying attention. That's pretty much Holy Moly, a bunch of drawings that look like they were done with a Bic disposable pen during a social studies class (not much of a narrative, and unlike me, Hayes doesn't try her own recreation of a Kiss, Journey or Boston logo). Note to all zinesters, comix makers: stop with the composition notebook covers. I can think of about a dozen of them right now, and they don't seem to grab people's attention (although to Haye's credit, she doesn't copy the cover, she draws the marble pattern by hand - pretty cool)."

Maggie read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon:
"I tore through this book in one day. A murder mystery written from the perspective of an autistic boy who has an extremely limited grasp of human emotion (happy and sad), yet po…

When I first came to Baltimore, I was surprised by the bar culture. "You mean people go to corner bars and just...drink?"

No tvs. No bands. Just people drinking and...talking? Crazy stuff.

Molly's has a pool table, though, and a jukebox that's online and downloads pretty much anything you want. Torment and delight the crowd with your picks (you can also pay extra and push your songs ahead on the queue, but that's just rude!). As Benn likes to say, "Always with pleasure, a little pain." Which I think is why he played "Tusk".

Atomic Knit Night has started back up again. Wednesday nights, from 7-9pm, here at Atomic Books. Except for the First Wednesday of the month when we go across the street to the Golden West Long Bar. It's smoke free and we even have a drink - The Lusty Purl!

What is Knit Night about? Here's a short FAQ:

Q: Does it cost anything?A: Nope! It's free.

Q: Is it a class?A: No, it's more of a social group. People just hang out and work on their own projects. We have cookies from Rose's up the street (or other people bake things and bring them in). We swap yarn, help figure out patterns, share what we know and chat.

Q: I just learned how to knit. Can I still come?A: Of course. We have a lot of beginners in our group, as well as knitters of all levels.

Q: Can I crochet there?A: Yes. All craftsters are welcome. As long as what you're working on is portable.

Q: Why do you knit?A: Because it's fun, an outlet for creativity, a good way to recycle yarn from old sweaters, an al…

This week Lauren read Out by Natsuo Kirino:
"I cannot describe how much I loved this book. It is the best thriller that I have ever read. The story begins when a young mother strangles her husband. She looks to friends that she works with to help her cover it up. This causes a chain of events that takes the women into the dark underbelly of Japan. While the story beings with the women there are so many other vivid characters, and despite the fact that they all do awful things I could identify with them as well. It all begins to tie together around the middle and then the book becomes impossible to put down."

Rachel read Budda V1 by Osamu Tezuka:
"It's like Astro Boy, Disney, and the Marx Bros all got together to tell the story of Buddha's birth. The story pulls you into the mythical past even as it stands back and makes modern day references and meta asides."

Benn read Bighead by Jeffrey Brown:
"Every once in awhile I get in the mood for a good superhe…

A couple of years ago we had a Shank Field Trip to Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in PA to try eat their crazy massive burgers. This is only the 2 pounder. It nearly killed those who tried to conquer it. You see, the meat is 2 pounds after it's cooked, but there's an additional 3 pounds of bread, onions, tomatoes and condiments! That photo doesn't do the burger justice. It's BIGGER in RL. It's a real life Flintstone-esque burger.

At the time we had been there we heard stories of a 98 pound woman working her way up to the 6 pounder. She had already defeated the 3 pounder. Who could have foreseen this young whippersnapper stealing her glory??

This week Maggie read Sweet Action #3:
"I like the concept of this magazine, yet a lot of the guys look like junkies/sleazeballs. My favorite article was the review of short stay motels in the NY/NJ area complete with pictures of heart-shaped hot tubs."

Mike read How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers:
"In these short stories, Dave Eggers is able to bounce all over the place as a narrator and still maintain a distinctive, enjoyable style. A lot of the tales seem like simple narrative experiments, but others really hold their own. I particularly enjoyed 'The Only Meaning of the Oil Wet Water' which involved two love-confused surfers, and 'Quiet' which reaches a level of awkwarndess I never thought possible."

Lauren read Crippled by Depression: Why Don't Nobody Love Me:
"About Adam, an artist, and his search for a girlfriend through Craigslist. His posts are funny and real and the answers range from amusing young girls to actual possibilities. The …

Update:Baltimore Sun:
Patrick Johnson, 13, who lives across the street from the warehouse, saw the smoke and fire from a bus as he came home from school. "I thought it was my house," he said, watching from his front stoop as firefighters sprayed the warehouse. "I ain't seen nothing like this before, not even on TV."

On Wednesday at noon, the popular modern rock station WHFS 99.1, owned by Infinity Broadcasting, was reformatted to become "El Zol." The new station features salsa, merengue, bacchata, Caribbean and Central American dance music in a Spanish-language format.

I was shocked at first, but then I realized that I don't give a shit. It's not like I've listened to that station in years.

Now that the New Year has started, it's almost time for New Year again. It's the dreaded Chinese Year of the Rooster. Well, dreaded for all of us (I'm circa 1969) born in the year of the Cock...our own years are considered unlucky.

Remember to wear something red every day to ward off the bad luck. It starts on Feb 9th.

For the past few years I've been keeping a log of my reading. Last year was pretty pathetic and I lost track around August or so. But I've been inspired by largehearted boy's 52 Book project and this year I plan to keep up and finish something every day, whether it's a magazine, zine, book, comic or paper. If it's a publication, it's up for some reading.

Everyone one else here at Atomic is also up for brief Friday reviews on the blog. So here are a few things we've read this past week:

What could be more perfect than Time Enough at Last to start off this section? AJ Michael's one shots are always a treat, and for list lovers, like myself, this one may be the best yet. A list of all her reads from last year - from classics to current zines, fiction, non-fiction, comix, etc. I got a vicarious sense of achievement!

Benn read Flaming Carrot #1 by Bob Burden:
"It's great to see the absurdist Flaming Carrot back in action. While I chuckled out loud a…

I've been mulling it over and I think that if fans of Ayn Rand can have their own dating service than why not fans of Robert Anton Wilson? Or Kurt Vonnegut? Or even Tom Robbins? Bukowski...ok, can't really sell that one...

Have you cracked open a book yet in 2005? How many books do you think you read in a year? Do you have a list or do you just go with the flow and pick up whatever strikes your fancy?

Largehearted Boy has a project of reading a book for every week of the year. He seemed to have accomplished this with ease last year and his reading list was so fun and eclectic we're sponsoring him this year.

LHB's blog is a great resource for a wide variety of indie mp3s and news. It's one of our favorites. (Actually, Benn's addicted to it.)